Francis Fukuyama's essay “The End of History?” was published in the summer of 1989, just before the fall of the Berlin Wall. His argument — that liberal democracy would not only defeat communism, but that its partisans might miss the “courage, imagination, and idealism” that defined the ideological battle — lives on as one of the most cited pieces of political theory in the last three decades. In his new memoir, In the Realm of the Last Man, he revisits “The End of History?” and talks to us about how his argument has evolved in a world now defined by the rapid development of AI and by the many electoral defeats liberal democracy has suffered as of late. We discuss how the Internet and social media are helping fuel the listlessness that “The End of History” brought about, how he uses AI, and what, if anything, will come after liberalism. See Odd Lots Live in LA September 2026 https://events.bloombergevents.com/event/ODDLOTSLA/summary Chapters: 00:00:00 - AI, the Last Man, and Human Dignity Through Work 00:03:43 - The Rise of Illiberalism and Current Political Context 00:08:10 - Generational Change and the Fragility of Liberal Democracy 00:10:04 - Clarifying "The End of History": Hegel, Nietzsche, and the Last Man 00:13:30 - Megalothymia, Pluralism, and the Contradictions of Liberalism 00:16:31 - Megalothymia: The Desire for Recognition as Superior 00:19:39 - Digital Media, Social Media, and the Collapse of Shared Facts 00:21:46 - AI: Agentic AI, Loss of Control, and the Dangers of Delegation 00:24:38 - Woodworking, Federal Furniture, and Personal Craftsmanship 00:25:55 - AI and the Last Man: Nihilism, the Manosphere, and the Dignity of Work 00:28:25 - Can Liberalism Be Reinvigorated? Building Things and National Purpose 00:31:18 - China as a Rival Model: Economic Strengths and Political Vulnerabilities 00:34:14 - Authoritarian Alternatives: Singapore, the Gulf, and the Limits of Competent Authoritarianism 00:36:53 - Meeting Wang Qishan and Gaddafi: Two Contrasting Encounters with Autocrats 00:40:24 - The Neoconservatives: Iraq, the Schism, and the Puzzle of Trump Support 00:44:01 - How to Fix the PR of Liberal Democracy 00:46:18 - Stanford, Tech Culture, and the Changing Politics of Students 00:51:51 - Relativism, Comparison, and the Angry Billionaire Watch Bloomberg Vodcasts: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe4PRejZgr0MS0Tqk_zQl1LVVTdWuH2Di Watch more Odd Lots episodes: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe4PRejZgr0OJbRzA6nWybYiThLJd_ouz Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway analyze the weird patterns, the complex issues and the newest market crazes. Join the conversation every Monday and Thursday for interviews with the most interesting minds in finance, economics and markets. Join the conversation: discord.gg/oddlots Subscribe to Bloomberg Podcasts: https://bit.ly/BloombergPodcasts Check out more Odd Lots: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe4PRejZgr0MuA6M0zkZyy-99-qc87wKV Get the Odd Lots newsletter: https://www.bloomberg.com/account/newsletters/oddlots And for all things Odd Lots, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/oddlots #Investing #Markets #Finance #Bloomberg #Podcast #OddLots Visit us: https://www.bloomberg.com/podcasts For coverage on news, markets and more: http://www.bloomberg.com/video Visit our other YouTube channels: Bloomberg Television: https://www.youtube.com/@markets Bloomberg Originals: https://www.youtube.com/bloomberg